The great works belong to no one nation, no one cultural tradition even. They are universal.I want an Australian vision of arts policy that is expansive, is embracing, is not narrow, is not parochial. For example, that Australians can do Shakespeare just as well as Englishmen can because we, like every civilised nation, partake of the great canonical works. It's not about Australian nationalism; it's about our identity as a culturally ambitious, culturally sophisticated nation.
George BrandisThere have been 44 constitutional referenda in Australia and only eight have succeeded.
George BrandisWell I'm not making predictions. But the point I can - what I can say to you to contribute to your thinking is as somebody who has been out knocking on doors, doing the street corners, speaking to constituents right across the country is that the Government - that people understand that the Government's message of jobs and growth is addressing their concerns and they have a level of - a high level of confidence that Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison are the people who can deliver.
George BrandisI think it displayed what the Australia Council does so well, the awarding of artists who at various steps in their career had been encouraged by the Australia Council.
George BrandisCapricornia there is a particular regional particularity and that is the Adani mine. We know that Adani, the massive Indian coal company, wants to develop the Carmichael mine... And people in Rockhampton know that and they know that the Greens are doing everything they possibly can to prevent the development of the Adani mine.
George Brandis